PS: Can someone explain to me how exactly is Russia in the G-8? US, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, UK and Russia???

From the Penn World Tables here is GDP per capita in 2003 (given in 2000 dollars and adjusted for deviations from PPP. variable name RGDPL) for these countries

US-$34,875, Canada-$27,844, UK-$26,044, France-$25,663, Germany-$25,188, Japan-$24,036, Italy-$22,923 and Russia-$11,794. What gives?? There is enough room to drive a Mexican truck between #7 and #"8".